Could my location (Argentina) be impacting my job eligibility as an English Writing Specialist?

[5c35e0a1]

I am new to Upwork and haven't been offered any jobs yet. I notice many clients have a Location preference, such as the UK or the United States. Because I'm offering English language services, I wonder if my location in South America is hindering the success of my proposals.

[colettelewis · Accepted solution]

Hi Hannah, 

I don't think your location should impact your eligibility as a writer. I have just looked at your profile and I  think you can add to it a bit by adding the US state(s) to your college education, so that clients know you are indeed a native English speaker and writer.

You offer translation but you do not specify what your language pair is. You suggest that you can reach a Spanish-speaking audience - my advice on this is don't. If you translate, your language pair should be from Spanish to English, unless you are 100% native/bilingual in Argentinian Spanish as well as knowing all the various Spanish language differences the world over. 

I enjoyed your blog, and I think you should add a few more to your portfolio. However, you must remove your link to your Twitter account and from there to your contact email as this is against Upwork's ToS. You can give these details to a client, once you have a confirmed contract in place.

Upwork, unfortunately, does have geoblocking. However, if there is a general job offer and a preference for a particular country, you can nevertheless still apply for the job and give the client a brief reason why you are eligible to apply. You are not likely to see any geoblocked job offers in your job feed.

To begin with, concentrate on the skills you are completely comfortable with and build up from there. 

I hope this helps.  

[5c35e0a1]

Hello,

Thank you for your response! This is very helpful information. I will remove the link to my Twitter account - I didn't intend to connect to my social media.

It's a good idea to add the US state where I earned my college education. I agree with what you said about the Spanish-speaking audience. I am more comfortable reviewing texts that have been translated from Spanish to English because I am not bilingual.

I will add more blog posts. I wasn't sure what to include in my portfolio because all of the proofreading jobs I completed before coming to Upwork (movie scripts, personal statements, CVs) are private material that the clients don't want to share. 

Thank you for these tips! I'll focus on the skills I am comfortable with and see if any clients are interested.

Sincerely,
Hannah